As the world's population grows and oceans are overfished and polluted, aquaculture will be necessary to meet future demands for fresh and safe seafood. However, current aquaculture systems are not sustainable for several reasons. The technology currently used in most intensive recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) requires large amounts of energy to operate, are labor intensive and require constant operator attention. Extensive open pond and natural systems require too much land and cannot be controlled to prevent pollution from rain and runoff. Extensive RAS systems cannot be cost effectively enclosed and must be constructed in warm climates.
As a result, both intensive and extensive aquaculture systems utilizing conventional technologies simply cannot compete with wild caught seafood or pond raised seafood from countries with very low labor costs and warm climates. Companies in today's aquaculture business must compete with these market prices and will not be given a premium for farm raised fish even though they can show that the fish are more healthy and safer to eat than wild-caught and open pond raised seafood. To the contrary aquaculture businesses would have to sell their product at a discount in order to compete in the market. This is impossible using current RAS technology and extensive pond systems as long as seafood prices remain at or near their current level. Consequently, there is a need for an aquaculture system that can be competitive with wild-caught and open pond raised seafood.